


The Night of the Attack

by ericsonclan



Series: OG World [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Childhood, Death, Friendship, Gen, Trauma, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Everything changed the first night the walkers reached Ericson School for Troubled Youth.
Relationships: Louis & Marlon (Walking Dead: Done Running), Marlon & Mitch (Walking Dead: Done Running), Minerva & Sophie (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: OG World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

Marlon woke up to the sound of screaming coming from somewhere inside the school. He sat up and rubbed his eyes blearily, looking around from his vantage point on the top bunk. Was he the only one who’d been woken up? He leaned over the side of his bunk. “Lou, hey, Lou. You up?”

“Yeah, I’m up,” came an irritated hiss. “Who can sleep with all that racket outside? You’d think somebody was getting murdered,”

“Can you asshats keep it down? Trying to sleep over here,” Marlon and Louis both glared over at Justin who was talking with a pillow wrapped round his head.

“Should one of us check outside and see what’s going on?” Dewey asked from the lower bunk.

“Nose goes!” Louis exclaimed, placing his finger on his nose.

It took Marlon a few seconds to realize that he was the only one not touching his nose. He rolled his eyes and began to descend the ladder with a groan. “Fine. But I’m only gonna look out the hallway window. I’m not going any farther than that,” The door opened with a creak as Marlon stepped out into the cold hallway, the entire corridor bathed in moonlight. He shuffled over to the window, squinting blearily. Was that one of the teacher’s cars in the roundabout outside? What would anybody be doing up so late? He leaned forward as something moved in the shadows outside. Had that been a trick of the light? No, there was a figure out there, walking toward the car. There was another one coming in through the gates, but they were moving weirdly. As the figures approached, the car roared to life and screeched out of the driveway, striking one of the people approaching it.

Marlon gasped in horror and ran back into the bedroom. “Guys, guys! One of the teacher’s cars was outside on the roundabout and it just tore out of here and hit somebody in the driveway!”

“What the shit?” Louis exclaimed, jumping out of bed.

Justin snorted as he climbed down. “You’re a fucking liar, Marlon. No way that’s true,”

“Go see for yourself, dumbass!”

The boys crowded against the nearest hallway window, looking out into the night.

“I don’t see anything,” Louis mumbled.

“They were just here, I swear! And two other people walking towards the car,”

“Holy shit!” Dewey shouted, pressing his nose to the glass. “Look there, right outside the gates! Is that the car?”

They all pressed against the class, straining to see what Dewey was talking about. Just beyond Ericson’s gates, billows of smoke were starting to roll into the night sky. Through it all, they could make out the rough outline of the car, totaled against a nearby tree.

“Holy shit,” Marlon whispered. “We’ve gotta tell somebody! They need help!” He turned to the other boys. “Dewey, Justin, run to the headmaster’s office and call 911! Louis and I will go find Ms. Martin,” The state of emergency had united their purposes. The pairs ran off in opposite directions, each set on their task.

\---

Nurse Martin’s room was up on the second floor where the girls slept. As Marlon and Louis climbed the stairs, they heard weird banging sounds outside and something that sounded like low moaning.

“What was that?” Louis whispered, his eyes large.

“Maybe the wind knocked some trash cans over,”

“But there’s no wind tonight!”

“Focus, Louis! We’ve gotta get help, fast!”

They scurried over to Ms. Martin’s room, knocking urgently at the door. Ms. Martin answered in her nightgown, looking concerned.

“Boys, it’s well past your bedtime! What are you doing up?”

“There’s been a car accident!” Louis blurted out. “Somebody’s hurt outside!”

Ms. Martin looked shocked at the news, but acted quickly, disappearing inside her room for a second before emerging with a medical bag. “I’ll handle it. Has Headmaster Flanders been informed?”

“We sent Dewey and Justin to tell him,” Marlon answered.

“Good. Now head on back to bed. The adults will deal with this,”

Ruby popped out of the room from underneath Ms. Martin’s arm. “I want to help too!”

“Now Ruby, dear, that’s kind of you, but you really ought to go back to bed too. Make sure that everybody stays inside, alright?”

Ruby looked unhappy at the orders, but nodded silently, heading toward her room. The boys followed behind her.

“Do you think she’ll get there in time?” Louis asked. “Even if Dewey and Justin have already called 911, we’re in the middle of nowhere. It’ll take forever for them to find this place!”

“Everything will be OK. The adults’ve got this,” Marlon’s voice sounded more confident than he felt.

“Ruby?” A voice whispered from down the hall. They looked up to see Stephanie peeking out from her bedroom doorway, her long curls swaying at her side. “What’s wrong? We heard a loud noise outside,”

Ruby placed an arm comfortingly on the girl’s shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. “Nothing to worry about. Ms. Martin’s got it handled,”

Marlon and Louis could see Therissa and Brody were up and out of their beds as well. Marlon offered Brody an awkward wave. “You guys can go back to sleep now. Everything’s gonna be OK,”  
At that very moment, a scream echoed down the hallway. Everyone turned to see Erin stumbling down the hallway in terror, some thing following after her. In the darkness they couldn’t see it clearly, but the way it swayed was unnatural and the gargling, hissing sounds coming from its throat were like something out of a horror movie. It was coming toward Erin as if it wanted to kill her!

Without stopping to think, Marlon ran forward, scooping Erin up into his arms and running down the hall with her. “Everyone, c’mon!” he shouted as he sprinted towards the stairs. Whatever that thing was, he didn’t want to risk the chance that it could get through the bedroom door. They all piled down the stairs, pausing as they reached the base of them.

“Should we hide outside?” Therissa asked, breathing heavily.

Marlon shook his head. “No, there are more of whatever that thing is outside. Let’s head for the kitchen. The doors are heavy and there’s plenty of space inside.”

They all followed behind him, making their way toward where the dormitories were adjoined to the kitchen.

Erin groaned from her place in Marlon’s arms.

Marlon looked down at her with concern. “Are you OK?”

“I was just heading downstairs to use the restroom,” Erin murmured. “That thing, I think it scratched me,” She lifted her arm to show a bloody red cut on her arm.

“We’ll get you help soon. Ms. Martin is up and soon all of the other adults will be too,” The teachers who lived on campus were in another dorm. With all the noise being made outside, they were sure to wake up and come over to check on them. They just had to get somewhere safe to wait for them.

As soon as everyone had made it inside the kitchen, Marlon placed Erin down on a chair and motioned for Louis to help him move some tables in front of the kitchen doors. They weren’t letting any of those freaky monsters get inside. Once that was done, Marlon turned around to find that he hadn’t been the first one to think to use the kitchen as shelter. One of the boys from the younger grades – he thought his name was Omar – stood beside the cafeteria equipment watching them impassively.

“You saw them too,” he said in a matter of fact tone.

The group looked amongst themselves and nodded.

Omar lifted a bag and started pulling knives out of it, handing them to the other students. “Thought this would be the best place to find weapons in case we needed them,”

Once the knives had been handed out, nobody knew quite what to do with themselves. Louis got a glass of water for Erin, who wasn’t looking very well. Marlon checked the entire kitchen, looking for openings where one of those things might be able to break in. The girls were sitting in a circle on the ground, Ruby trying to comfort Stephanie who had started crying. They didn’t know how long they’d have to wait. Hours? Till morning? There was no way of knowing.

Suddenly the doors started shaking as a loud banging could be heard outside them. Everyone held their knives in front of them, unsure what to do.

“Open the fuck up!” a voice shouted angrily. “We need help!”

“That’s Mitch’s voice!” Marlon exclaimed. He and Louis pulled back the tables so the doors could be opened. Mitch burst through carrying one of the little kids in his arms while two more tagged along behind him, holding onto his shirt with wide eyes. Ruby and Brody came forward, taking two of the children. The third refused to let go of Mitch, clinging to him fiercely. Mitch didn’t seem willing to put him down either.

“Mitch, are you OK?” Marlon asked, looking his friend up and down. He seemed uninjured.

“Yeah, but just barely,” Mitch’s breathing was heavy. “Something fucked up is going on out there, man. I saw that dickwad Flanders running out to his car. Haven’t even seen any other of the adults. I think they all left,”

“What?” Stephanie cried, her voice raising in fright. “No, that can’t be true. We need help!”

“I don’t know if help’s coming,” Mitch’s face was grim. “There’s a ton of those creeps walking around outside. No sign of anything else,”

As the girls tried to calm down Stephanie again, Marlon, Louis and Mitch started to push the tables back in place. They were almost finished when another person started banging on the door.

“Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!” It was Justin.

They pulled back the tables once more to usher him inside. He collapsed on the floor, looking defeated.

Louis crouched beside him. “Justin! What happened? Did you and Dewey call 911?”

Justin shook his head, looking as though he might be sick. “We made it to the principal’s office, but the phone wasn’t working. Then some sort of monster came into the room and-“ he choked on his words, breathing shakily. “I think it got Dewey. I heard him screaming,”

“We have to go rescue him!” Louis looked up at Marlon for support.

Justin shook his head. “It’s too late for that. I think… I think he’s gone,”

“We can’t just give up!” Louis cried, walking toward the doors. “Marlon, help me with these!”  
Louis was right. They couldn’t give up when Dewey might need their help. For the fourth time, he and Louis moved the tables, giving strict instructions to the kids that no one else should be let inside unless they recognized their voice. Mitch pulled the little kid off of him, placing him on the ground beside Brody.

“You listen here, Willy. You stay safe, OK? Don’t go outside no matter what. I’m counting on you to look after Maddie and Lamar since you’re the oldest one. OK?” Willy sniffled, but nodded. The doors closed behind them as Marlon, Louis and Mitch made their way down the hallway.

“Did you see any of the other kids when you were walking through the halls?” Marlon asked Mitch.

“Sophie and Minnie. They took their little brother Tenn with them. I told them we should stick together, but they said they had to go find Violet somewhere outside. It didn’t sound safe, so I decided to take the other little kids to the kitchen,”

“What do you think those things are?” Louis asked, his voice high with fear.  
Mitch shrugged. “Whatever they are, they don’t seem smart. They just wander back and forth through the halls. But there sure are a lot of them,”

\---

It was a bit of a trek to make it to the principal’s office as it was in the admin building. They had to sneak outside at one point, hiding behind the walkway walls as more of the monsters rustled through the bushes. They made it inside without running into any though. As they climbed the staircase to the principal’s office, Marlon felt the hair on his arms standing on end. He could hear more of the monsters upstairs.

They crouched a few steps from the top of the staircase, looking down the hallway. It was pitch black inside. The moon must have gone behind some clouds.

Suddenly, Louis let out a horrified gasp. They looked up to see what had shocked him. It was Dewey, laying on the ground, still. Louis ran forward before Marlon could stop him.

“Dewey!” Louis cried, before falling backwards as a monster stepped out from the shadows.

Marlon leapt forward, stabbing at the figure with his knife. It looked like a man, but its skin was sickly grey and its eyes murky and lifeless. The blow didn’t seem to affect it at all. It turned toward Marlon, reaching out its hand.

“Get away from my friend, you fucker!” Mitch shouted, swiping forward in a move that completely cut off the creature’s hand. Marlon pulled his knife out of its side. If stabbing it there didn’t work, he’d have to try somewhere else. He heard Louis cry out in anger, stabbing his knife into the creature’s knee to no effect. What was this creature made of? With a desperate bellow, Marlon stabbed deep into the monster’s jaw. It turned its head his way. His blade was stuck. Marlon leaned backwards, trying to drag the knife down and out of the creature. Mitch delivered a blow to the creature’s skull, breaking through with a sickly squelch. The creature went limp and fell toward the ground. Marlon knelt beside it trying to catch his breath, unsure if it was really dead.

The sound of Louis crying caused him to look up. Louis was sitting beside Dewey, holding his lifeless hand. The boy’s glasses lay crushed on the floor beside him. He was deathly pale. From where he sat, Marlon could see the damage that had been done to the boy’s throat. It was like it had been entirely ripped out. Justin had been right – he was dead. He never stood a chance. From the blood smattered across the monster’s jaws, it was likely the one that had killed him. Marlon clenched the handle of his knife, feeling helpless rage rise within him. He shouldn’t have told Dewey and Justin to call for help. Maybe if it wasn’t for him they’d still be alive.

“Fucking shit,” Mitch muttered, looking angrily at the floor. “We need to get back. There’s nothing else we can do,” He turned to Louis. “C’mon, we gotta go. The others need us,”

Louis seemed to be in a daze, as if he couldn’t accept what was right before him. His hand remained interlocked with Dewey’s pale one as his shoulders shook.

“Louis, c’mon,”

“Give him a minute, OK?” Marlon snapped.

“We might not have a minute! Who knows how many more of those things are out there?”

From behind the headmaster’s door, they heard a whimper. Marlon and Mitch froze. Was it another monster? A small wet nose poked between the double doors and a head popped out. The headmaster’s dog, Rosie. He hadn’t taken her with him?

“Here, girl,” Marlon coaxed, putting out a hand and whistling gently. Rosie pushed through the doors, coming up to sniff Marlon’s hand. He petted her head gently. He’d never seen her up close before, but she seemed like a nice dog.

Rosie trotted over to Louis, snuffling against him. Louis turned to look at her, offering her his other hand. She licked it softly.

“Louis,” Marlon said. “We’ve got to go,”

“I know,” Louis murmured. Shakily, he rose to his feet, Mitch supporting him on one side. Marlon expected him to look sad, but his eyes were hard as he looked up. “We can’t let this happen to anybody else,”

Marlon nodded. “We have to find the rest of the kids,”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violet, the twins and Tenn face their own terrors outside.

The four children huddled together on the courtyard wall, watching in terror as monsters roamed the grounds below them. Sophie and Minnie had Tenn huddled between them, his tiny form barely visible as they shielded him protectively. Violet sat beside Minerva, watching the schoolyard apprehensively. She’d been up in the bell tower looking at the stars when Minnie and Sophie came running up with Tenn and told her that they had to get out of there, that something bad was happening in the school.

They hadn’t wanted to get trapped at the top of the tower with no escape route, so they’d gone downstairs, planning to run off into the woods until whatever things were roaming the school hallways had been dealt with. To their horror, they soon realized that the source of the monsters wasn’t the school: it was the forest itself. In a split second decision, Violet directed the others to climb the wall. It was a rough go in the dark with sparse footholds and barely anything to cling onto, but they were able to get the twins up and then Tenn, Violet scrambling up last as one of the monsters drew near.

They’d been sitting atop the wall for 20 minutes now, helplessly watching the yard fill with the growling, stumbling things. It didn’t seem like any of the monsters noticed them, but they were trapped, unable to come down and at a complete loss as to how long this would go on. They had heard screams from inside of Ericson. Things weren’t safe in there either. They hadn’t seen anyone else outside. Was everyone else gone or… killed?

Violet looked over to the twins. She could see Minnie and Sophie’s eyes were both shining with tears, but they kept silent. Tenn sat quietly between them, shivering slightly despite the body warmth of both his sisters. Violet pulled her knees up to her chin, lost in thought. Her friends were safe. That was the most important thing. But what would she do if daylight came and nothing had changed? What if no help arrived? There were already so many monsters throughout Ericson. They couldn’t hope to fight them all.

“Look!” the whisper came from Sophie, who urgently pointed down into the yard. “Is that Ms. Martin?”

Violet squinted, trying to see what Sophie was pointing to. It sort of looked like her, tall and carrying some sort of bag. Was it her first aid kit? Had she come out looking for them? No, she was heading towards the school as if coming in from outside. Who else was out here that she’d been helping?

Minnie gasped in fright. “There’s one behind her! Does she see it?”

One of the monsters was straggling along behind her. She hadn’t turned around yet. She seemed focused on the path ahead of her. It was getting too close!

Sophie stood up on the wall and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Ms. Martin! Behind you!”

Ms. Martin swirled around, spotting the monster coming toward her. She pulled something out of her bag and began swinging out at it as if trying to ward it off.

Sophie’s cry had another effect as well. The other monsters seemed drawn to the noise, beginning to walk over towards the wall. Once they reached it would they be able to climb it?

They couldn’t take that chance. “C’mon!” Violet hissed, making her way carefully and quickly along the side of the wall. They had to get somewhere the monsters couldn’t see them, maybe amid the cover of the trees that touched the north portion of the wall. The twins followed her lead, Minnie carrying Tenn as they carefully walked along the top of the wall, trying to get to safety.

They’d almost reached the trees. Their silence seemed to have paid off. The monsters had stopped at the spot where they used to be on the wall, growling dumbly as they stood around in confusion. Violet wasn’t sure if it was the cover of night or the stupidity of these things that had kept them safe. Whatever it was, she was thankful they’d dodged those things. The only trouble was that the trees were on the other side of the gate. Was it worth it to get down to cross that portion of the wall or should they stay silent here even though they were still out in the open?

That was when she looked over and saw that Ms. Martin wasn’t having any luck against her monster. It had grabbed one of her wrists, and though she was stabbing it with the weapon in her free hand, it seemed unaffected. What was it going to do to her?

Violet looked toward the twins, who were watching the scene play out in terror. Minnie turned to look at her helplessly. What could they do? They had no weapons. Were they just going to let Ms. Martin die? Violet scanned the yard frantically, trying to find anybody else who could help Ms. Martin. Where were all the adults? Had Headmaster Flanders left to get help? Then her eyes fell upon the pile of stones near the gate. The kids hoarded them up here sometimes, looking for an opportunity to sneak up and toss them at nearby animals or students. It wasn’t much, but it was all they had.

“Sophie, grab those rocks,” Violet directed. As Sophie passed them she stuffed them in her pockets until they were full to the brim. She looked at the twins, her expression somber. “Stay here and keep quiet,” Then she scurried away from them along the wall, getting a fair distance from them before she dared make a sound. She was as close as she could get to Ms. Martin and the monster. Hopefully this didn’t attract too many of the other monsters.  
“Hey, asswipe!” she called, tossing a rock toward the monster. “Come over this way!”

The rock didn’t hit the monster, but it did fall close to its feet, drawing its attention for a second. Ms. Martin took the opportunity, punching the monster in the face and breaking free of its grasp. She ran toward the wall, the creature close behind her. Violet continued to throw rocks, her aim improving gradually. She lobbed a particularly large one, hitting the monster right in the face and causing it to fall over. There were other monsters coming close behind it though. And Violet was running out of rocks.

Ms. Martin had reached the wall. She tried to climb up it, but wasn’t doing very well. Her feet and hands scrabbled for purchase, but she kept slipping back to the ground. She wasn’t going to make it.

A noise beside her caused Violet to spin around. Minnie and Sophie had come to stand beside her.

“We need to help her!” Sophie declared. She knelt down, motioning to Minnie. “Grab my ankles. I need you to hold me steady,”

“What?” Minnie replied in shock, her eyes wide. “I can’t-”

“We don’t have time to argue!”

Violet was down to the last few rocks. She continued to provide cover, tossing them strategically as the monsters drew closer. They wouldn’t last much longer.

Minnie turned round to Tenn, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Tenn, you stay totally still, OK? No matter what, you don’t move,”

Tenn nodded silently, too afraid to speak.

Minnie knelt down by Sophie and grabbed her ankles, keeping a firm grip as Sophie eased her way down the wall using her hands.

Sophie reached out as far as she could. “Miss Martin, grab on!”

Miss Martin looked up frantically. She grunted with effort as she leapt up, catching one of Sophie’s hands. She quickly caught the other, her shoes digging into the crevices of the wall as the twins began to help pull her up.

One of the monsters was at the wall. It grabbed at Miss Martin’s ankle, but she kicked it soundly in the jaw, knocking it down. She collapsed on top of the wall with a heavy groan. “Girls,” she murmured, reaching out to take Minnie and Sophie into her arms. “Thank you. I think you just saved my life,”

The groans and growls of the monsters quickly had them looking back over the edge of the wall. There had to be at least a dozen of them. The other side of the wall had them too, wandering up and down along its base.

Ms. Martin was still trying to catch her breath. “We have to get out of here. We’re going back to the school and I’m calling for help,”

Sophie shook her head. “Ms. Martin, we haven’t seen anyone else come out of the school. We don’t know if there’s anyone left,”

Ms. Martin’s face fell. “No, that can’t be. I was just with Ruby not half an hour ago and Marlon and Louis came to tell me of a car crash outside… how could everything go wrong in such a short time?”

“Wait!” Minnie exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the school. “Do you see that?”

Violet’s eyes narrowed in focus. “Is that a white sheet?”

“Someone must be waving it,” Ms. Martin’s eyes lit up. “We have to go to them! C’mon girls!” She moved to walk forward, but Violet stood in front of her and there was only room to walk along one at a time. “What’s wrong, Violet?”

“It’s safe up here. They can’t reach us up here. We should stay,”

“And leave that poor soul alone and in danger?”

Violet’s eyes were firm. “We’re safe here,”

“Not for long, Violet. There’s no food up here, no water. My medicine bag is lost down there as well. If what you’re saying is true and there’s no one out here but us and few inside, then we may be the only ones capable of reaching help from outside the school. Just because it’s safe in this moment doesn’t mean it can stay this way,”

She hated to admit it, but Miss Martin was right. The only safety they’d found wasn’t a lasting safety at all. And they couldn’t split up either. They had to get down and see what had become of Ericson, find out who it was flapping the white sheet and if they knew anything that could help them.

Wordlessly, Violet turned around and began walking along the wall, looking for an empty section where they could get down. Ms. Martin and the others followed along behind her. Hopefully they weren’t giving up the one safe place they’d found for nothing. Hopefully they were heading toward safety, toward escape. Violet hoped a lot of things. But she knew already that hoping didn’t get you anywhere in this world. Whatever had gone wrong with the world this night, hope wasn’t going to fix it. Maybe nothing was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marlon, Louis and Mitch return to the cafeteria with Rosie to find out more has gone wrong in their absence.

Marlon, Louis and Mitch hurried back to the kitchen as quickly as they could, Rosie trailing closely behind them. When they reached it, they found the doors closed as expected. But there was shouting coming from inside. There was a fight going on. The boys all pounded on the doors together and Rosie barked constantly, trying to break through the noise inside so they could be let inside. Finally, they heard an answer.

“W-who is it?” It was Brody’s voice.

“It’s Marlon! Louis and Mitch are with me too!”

“Oh, thank God! Therissa, come help me!” The sound of tables being moved could be heard from inside.

There was another more pressing sound outside though. A low, rasping moan. Rosie began to growl, crouching defensively beside the boys. At the end of the hallway, they could see a shadowy figure teetering back and forth. Another soon rounded the corner behind it.

“Shit, we can’t take more than one on,” Mitch muttered, gripping his knife tightly.

Louis began pounding on the door again. “Brody, we need to get in, NOW!”

The doors opened and the boys tumbled in, immediately helping the girls push the tables back in place.

“It’s good you heard us when you did,” Marlon said to Brody with a smile. “Any longer out there and we’d be doomed,”

Brody’s expression was strained. “Things aren’t much better in here,”

Marlon’s brow quirked in confusion. Brody simply motioned for him to turn around. When he did, his heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

Erin lay dead on the floor in the middle of the room. Her eyes were a milky white and her skin had a sickly greyish tone to it. Part of her head had been caved in and she was covered in blood. 

Kids stood circled round the body, more than had been here when they left. They all looked terrified, some clinging to those close to them while others stared at the corpse numbly. In the corner behind the counters, Justin and Ruby were fiercely arguing. Justin’s right hand clenched a bloodied knife.

“What the hell happened?” Marlon murmured, looking around in shock. “We were only gone a few minutes!”

Brody tried to answer, but she was clearly overwhelmed.

Therissa put a comforting hand on her shoulder then turned to Marlon, her expression grim. “Erin kept getting worse. We tried asking her what was wrong, what could we do to help, but she just kept staring ahead blankly. She didn’t say anything. Ruby had finally gotten Stephanie to calm down, so she had her sit by Erin to keep her company while she went to look for some snacks from the pantry. Then Erin… changed. She turned into one of those monsters. She grabbed Stephanie and bit her, bad. We tried to pull them apart, to get both to calm down. Then Justin came in from behind and…” She didn’t have to finish the statement.

“Fucking hell,” Mitch spat, looking over at the corpse. “Justin did that? He didn’t try to tie her up or lock her somewhere?”

Therissa shook her head. “He said it was too dangerous, that if he’d waited Erin would’ve bit us too. She got bit by one of the monsters, so that must’ve been what made her go crazy like that.   
Then he grabbed Stephanie and locked her in the pantry,”

“Ruby’s been trying to get him to back down, but he won’t listen to anybody,” Brody looked up at Marlon. “We were hoping maybe he’d listen if you talked to him,”

“Stephanie’s stuck in there?” Mitch asked, eyes hardened. “Marlon and I will go over there and knock some sense into him-”

“No!” Marlon grabbed Mitch’s hand to stop him. “We can’t do something like that while he’s got a bloody knife! We have to be smart about this,”

“You’re telling me we have to kiss up to a dickwad like that when he’s waving a knife around in a room of little kids? Wait,” His eyes widened. “Where are the youngest kids?”

“Jasper took them over to a corner on the other side of the room,” Therissa responded. “Don’t worry; they’re safe,”

Mitch’s expression softened. “Good,” He turned to Marlon. “You take the lead on this. I’ll follow your call,”

“Deal. Now, Louis-” Marlon froze. Where was Louis? His eyes ran across the room, searching for him. They landed on the group of kids. Louis had made his way over to them, pushing silently through the crowd, getting closer to where the body lay. It stung, but there was nothing he could do for him now. The best he could do was try to get Justin to stand down.

Rosie whined, pressing her wet muzzle against Marlon’s hand.

Marlon looked down at her with a small smile. At least they’d gotten her out safe.

As they walked over toward the pantry, Marlon and Mitch began to hear thumping and muffled words. It must be Stephanie, trying to get out of her makeshift prison. Ruby and Justin were arguing animatedly in front of the door.

“Justin, so help me God, if you don’t get out of my way right now, I will cut you down myself!”

“Are you nuts, Ruby? She got bit! It only took Erin minutes to go crazy after that monster got her. We’ve got to make sure no one else gets bit. That means she stays locked up,”

“We can’t just abandon her! We have to try to fix this. We could irrigate the wound, get medicine!”

Justin scoffed. “From where? There’s nothing in here and the whole school is crawling with those things! Ms. Martin’s probably dead by now – we’re on our own!”

“Don’t you dare say that! I won’t let you give up on her or Stephanie that easily!”

“Justin,” Marlon broke through the argument, stepping between them. Mitch stood a few steps behind him, Rosie by his side. “How long since Stephanie got hurt?”

“I don’t know. Five minutes? Ten?”

“It hasn’t been ten minutes, you idiot!” Ruby was ready to keep going, but Marlon’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. “Ruby, can you get some water and dish towels from the kitchen? You’re right, we should clean the wound,”

Ruby nodded, stepping away to grab the supplies.

Justin scowled at them. “There’s no way in hell I’m opening that door,”

Marlon ignored him, stepping in front of the door and leaning his ear against it. “Steph, can you hear me?”

“Marlon?”

“Is the place you got bit still bleeding?”

“Uh, a little bit, yeah. Can you let me out? It’s dark in here, and…” her voice devolved into sobbing.

“Stephanie, I need you to listen to me. You gotta be brave, OK? Ruby’s getting some water and dish cloths. We’re gonna try to stop the bleeding,”

“There’s no point, she’s already doomed,” Justin snapped, taking a step forward.

Rosie growled, her ears flat against her head.

Justin immediately took a step back.

Marlon glared at him. “Listen, dickwad, we’re opening this door and Ruby’s going to try to help Stephanie however she can. You just stand there with your knife and keep watch. We’re not just gonna start locking each other up. There’s better ways to do this,”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

Marlon’s brain raced, searching for a solution. His eyes fell on some bundles of flour that were tied together in a pile. “Mitch, go over there and cut off that rope. We’re going to tie Stephanie to something,”

“Seriously?” Mitch looked shocked at the decision.

“It’s better than leaving her alone in the dark. Go!”

Mitch obeyed. Ruby returned with a bowl of water and some washcloths. Marlon looked at Justin. “When I open this door, Steph’s going to be scared. She doesn’t need your bloody knife scaring her more. I need you to go stand watch at the main doors. There’s monsters right outside. We can’t risk them getting in,”

“And what about the monster that’s about to be in here?”

“You little-” Ruby began, but Marlon stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

“He’s not worth it, Ruby. Focus on Stephanie. She needs you,” He raised his own knife. “If it comes to that, I’ll do what needs to be done. Now please, go,”

Justin looks unconvinced, but as Mitch came over it was clear he realized he was outnumbered. He stalked away angrily toward the main doors.

Marlon leaned back against the pantry door. The hand that held his own knife was slightly shaking. He couldn’t fall apart, not yet. He needed to keep himself together, keep the kids together, at least until the firemen or police or whoever would deal with this came to save them. He placed his ear back against the door. “Steph, can you hear me?”

“Y-Yes. Is Ruby there?”

“I’m right here, Sug!” Ruby called, her hands pressed against the door. “We’re gonna get you out!”

“We will, but Stephanie, listen to me,” Marlon added. “We need to tie your hands, just to keep you safe. That way Justin will leave you alone,”

There was silence for a moment. “OK,” The voice was small, defeated.

Marlon looked to Mitch.

He nodded, holding the rope up in his hands

Marlon opened the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violet and the twins discover what has happened with the other students while they were gone.

The main doors were a no-go. Several of the monsters were milling about in front of them, occasionally grasping at the doors when they heard a noise from inside. Violet, the twins and Tenn crouched in the shadows at the corner of the hallway with Miss Martin, Trey and Aasim in front of them. Aasim motioned for the group to turn around. There was more than one set of doors into the kitchen. Maybe if they were lucky they’d reach another option without issue.

They backtracked to the outside entrance to the kitchen, trying not to make a sound as they went single file down the hall, Minnie carrying Tenn in her arms while Sophie tried to silently distract him to keep him calm. Once they reached the door, Aasim reached out cautiously and pulled on the handle. It didn’t budge. They all shared a panicked look as Aasim knocked quickly on the door. “They were supposed to leave someone on watch at each of the entrances,” he whispered, his voice high. “Fuck, if they forgot-”

Before he could finish, the door cracked open. A short, squat boy with curly hair looked out at them.

“Omar, thank God! Let us in, we found others,”

The door opened and they all slipped inside before Omar shut the door behind them. He then proceeded to push a box of kitchen supplies back in front of the door with a labored grunt. Trey assisted him, then gave him a quick hug. “Thought for a second we wouldn’t make it. Did Joey and Alex get back alright?”

Omar nodded. “They’re here somewhere. Things’ve gotten bad though. A lot’s gone down since you left,”

“Like what?”

Ms. Martin gasped as she looked across the room. Violet looked over to see what had shocked her. Her stomach dropped. Erin lay dead on the floor, her body a sickly shade of grey and her eyes clouded. There was blood on her lips and a deep gash on one of her arms. Most of the other kids were standing round her, watching her still form in fear, horrified yet afraid to look away.

One of the kids had stepped forward to kneel down beside her, a boy with dreadlocks.

“Louis, get back!” one of the kids hissed. “She could still get up!”

“How long’s she been down?” the boy snapped back. “Does she look like she’s gonna move?” He looked down at the body, then round the circle. “Somebody get some water. We need to clean her up,”

The circle of children were silent.

He looked at them with disbelief. “Anybody!” his voice cracked with emotion.

Ms. Martin ran forward, kneeling beside him to examine the body. Her eyes teared up as she gently touched Erin’s still form. “No, no, no, this can’t be happening…”

Violet felt like she was going to be sick. She’d seen Erin less than an hour ago, snapping at her when she shook the bunk bed while getting up to go to the bathroom. Violet hadn’t been able to get to sleep after that, so she’d snuck out to the bell tower to look at the stars. Then the twins came and got her and while they were safe up on the wall, Erin had died. They’d left her alone and she’d died. How could they have done that?

“C’mon,” She felt a hand on her elbow and realized it was Omar, the boy who’d let them in. He guided her over to the crate. “Sit down. Try to breathe,” He held her hand as Violet shakily took one deep breath, then another. Her head shot up as a new thought hit her. The twins. Had they seen Erin yet? No, they were over in the corner with Tenn and the other little kids. She had to tell them. She tried to get up, swaying a little before a gentle hand guided her back down.

“Easy there,” Trey whispered, giving her a small, sad smile. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Aasim and I saw what you did out there to save Ms. Martin. That was seriously badass,”

“They don’t know yet,” Violet murmured, looking down. “About Erin,”

“Do you… want me to tell them?”

Violet looked up in shock. He’d do that for her?

Trey nodded silently, his brown skin seeming strangely wan in the moonlight as he turned to make his way over to the twins. They were busy talking with Jasper and looking after the other little kids. Trey gently motioned for them to step aside. They handed Tenn over to Jasper before following the dark haired boy a few feet away. Violet couldn’t hear the words as he spoke to them, but she saw the moment when comprehension hit. Minnie’s face crumpled and her hands shot up to her mouth, holding back a scream. Sophie clung tightly to her sister, glancing over at the crowd of kids before turning away and burying her face in Minnie’s shoulder.

Violet felt numb inside. She should probably be crying right now, like the twins were. Instead, she just felt empty. Her focus turned back to the front of the room where the body lay. Someone had gotten that dreadlocked boy water and a rag. He was cleaning the blood off of Erin’s mouth and hands. Even from here, she could tell he was crying. She’d seen him talking to Erin before, but she didn’t know him well. Were they friends?

Ms. Martin had gone elsewhere. It took Violet a minute to find her, but she spotted her in the back of the kitchen, talking to some other students. She recognized Ruby. She looked tense, like she was arguing about something. What was going on over there? Mitch was there too, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. He looked worried. Was it about the monsters outside or something else?

“What happened in here?” she asked, looking up at Omar.

Omar shook his head, closing his eyes. “Erin was hurt. One of those things out there got her arm. She was resting in the corner and then all of a sudden, she went crazy and pushed Stephanie to the floor. Bit her in the shoulder before we could pull her off.” He nodded towards the pantry. “Stephanie’s over there with Ruby, Marlon and Mitch. Miss Martin must be checking on her,” Suddenly, his eyes got large. “Wait, did any of you get bitten or scratched while you were out there?”

“No, we all climbed up onto the wall before any of them could reach us then snuck down when we saw the signal from Trey and Aasim. Miss Martin had some close calls with them, but I didn’t see any marks on her,”

“I have to go for a minute and talk to Joey and Alex, ask them if the kids they found got hurt at all. Can you watch the door while I’m gone? No one should be out there anymore, but just in case,”

“O-OK,” With that, she was left on watch while Omar went in search of Joey and Alex. Great. Violet felt her eyes growing heavy. Shit, she couldn’t fall asleep now. She looked down at her bare feet, wriggling her toes. They were freezing. It hadn’t really hit her until now. Her pajamas hadn’t done much to keep out the night chill either. She could feel the dampness from the evening dew on them. There probably wasn’t anything around here she could use to warm up besides empty potato sacks. All the blankets were back in the dorms.

Everything was out there. Their clothes, the bathrooms, the phones… somebody must’ve tried the phones by now. Maybe there was a line in here too. Violet eyed the room dully, searching for it. At least there was food here. They definitely wouldn’t starve. They’d just have to camp out in here till somebody came through and mowed all those monsters down. Till then though, things were going to suck. No, worse than suck. Erin had died in here. Stephanie was hurt. There were probably dead kids scattered throughout the school. Everybody in here was scared shitless, wondering who would be next to go. Praying it wouldn’t be them.

There was no way to know. Violet looked toward Sophie and Minnie, watching them as they quietly played with Tenn. They’d turned him around so he wouldn’t see the body. It was covered now anyways. That dreadlocked boy and Therissa had found some sort of blanket to throw over Erin. Now they were picking up the body, carrying it over to the side of the room so it wouldn’t be some spectacle for the other kids to gawk at anymore. 

Violet shivered, wrapping her arms round herself. God, to think her last words to Erin were to shut the fuck up. If she’d known, well, what would she have said differently? She at least would have kept out the swears. Erin hated swears.

Omar was coming back. 

Violet stood up quickly. “Any news?”

“No marks on the other kids. At least, nothing that they saw. They’re gonna check again,”

“Good. I’m gonna go join Minnie and Soph,”

“OK. Be safe,”

“You too,”

Violet eyed the clock on the far wall as she walked over to join her friends. God, was it really only 11:43? She wondered what the rest of the night would hold. She didn’t want to find out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting is held to determine what will happen regarding Stephanie and how they all plan to make it through the night.

They’d decided to meet at 12:30. Minutes before, Marlon and Mitch rounded up the other kids, getting them all to come to the middle of the room while Miss Martin stood in front of them, the de facto leader as the sole adult in the room. Marlon could tell that she looked uncertain but was doing her best to hide it. All she had to do was hold out until help reached them. If they could all keep calm until then, everyone could stay safe. They couldn’t afford to fall apart right now when this group was all any of them had.

Miss Martin eyed the children hesitantly, giving them a small, wavering smile. Everyone was here except for Ruby who’d insisted on staying with Stephanie and Joey and Omar who’d been placed on watch in front of both entrances. The kids stared back at their school nurse with wide eyes as they huddled in the dark, cold room. “Ok, kids…” Miss Martin started off. “I know this has been a terrifying night for all of us. We’ve all seen things we wish we could forget. But we’re safe in here. We have food and water and I’m sure that as soon as it’s light out we’ll have help coming our way. Some of the other teachers have surely alerted the police of what’s been happening out here-”

“You mean the teachers that abandoned us?” Tyler shouted angrily. “The ones we saw running away without giving a flying fuck about us?”

Miss Martin flinched at the interruption.

Marlon stepped forward beside her. “Hey, let Miss Martin speak. We’ll deal with questions after,” Rosie stood beside him, giving his hand a supportive lick.

“All we’ve got are fucking questions!” Justin retorted. “No one knows what the fuck is happening and if we’re all going to sit around pretending it’s alright that Stephanie’s sitting out in the open when she’s been bit and the last girl who got bit tore through her fucking shoulder-”

“Her name was Erin,” Louis interrupted, his tone cold. “Show some fucking respect for the dead,”

“That’s exactly my point, shithead. We already have plenty of dead. We don’t need someone who’s on the way out taking more of us with her!”

“Now let’s not have any of that. We don’t want to panic,” Miss Martin warned. “I’ve cleaned Stephanie’s wound and she’s resting and staying hydrated. We don’t know what being bitten means yet, so we’re going to wait to act further until she’s been seen by medical professionals,”

“That’s exactly what we did with Erin,” Justin glared pointedly at Louis. “That’s what got Stephanie bit: doing nothing,”

“Hey asshole, she’s tied up,” Mitch shot back. “So stop bitching and move on. We’ve got other things to worry about,”

“Thank you, Mitch, though your wording could be a bit gentler,” Miss Martin said softly. She cleared her throat before continuing. “It’s my understanding that the school grounds have already been searched?”

Aasim nodded. “We sent out two teams and covered all rooms and the grounds. There’s no one left outside,”

“Nevertheless, we’ll keep watch throughout the night in case we hear anyone else who might need help. Justin, perhaps you could gather a list of volunteers to take shifts?”

Justin seemed unconvinced, but silently agreed.

“Wonderful. I would also like someone to get a list together of everyone who’s here. We’ll want to have it ready when the first responders arrive,”

Therissa raised her hand. “I can do that,”

“Thank you,” Miss Martin’s eyes scanned the room for her next errand runners. “Louis, Kelsey, can you go into the pantry and find some snacks that we can hand out to everyone? Nothing that needs cooking or microwaving, just something simple,”

“On it,” Louis answered, motioning for Kelsey to follow.

“What else, what else…” Miss Martin mused to herself. “Oh, blankets! I know it’s not ideal, but we do have some moving blankets in storage in the back. Amber, Timothy, can you grab those?”

The pair had been clinging to each other, clearly loath to be separated. They quickly headed toward the back, hands clasped together as they passed the others.

“Alright, I think that’s all we can do for tonight. Oh, anyone who has any sorts of injuries - scratches, bruises or otherwise – from tonight, come over and see me and I’ll get you cleaned up. Everyone else, let’s make sure the floor is clear along the back wall and get ready to go to bed. I know it seems near impossible to think of sleep right now, but we’ll all need it. OK?”

There was general incoherent mumbling as the children scattered, wandering off in clumps to huddle and whisper amongst themselves once more.

Ms. Martin let out a shaky sigh. She turned to Marlon with a weak smile. “Thank you for standing up for me back there. I know you must’ve been hoping for a stronger authority figure than me to pull things together,”

“No, you did a good job,” Marlon assured her. “You made sure everyone stayed calm and had stuff to do,” He paused. “Is there anything you want me to do though?”

“Yes, actually,” Miss Martin looked uncomfortable at the statement. “I need you to keep a close eye on Stephanie. I’m not sure what’s going to happen in these next few hours, but we need to be prepared for the worst. If that happens… I don’t think Ruby could handle it. I need to know there’s someone there who won’t fall apart if things go badly. Who’ll do what needs to be done…” she glanced over at Justin who had assembled a group of boys around him. “And nothing more,”

Marlon nodded. “I’ll have Mitch there too. Just to be safe,”

“That sounds like a good idea,”

Marlon headed over, Rosie following closely behind. He was glad she was sticking with him. It was a small comfort in the midst of this nightmare.

\---

Louis exited the pantry for the third time, his hands overflowing with bags of chips. His eyes fell on Ruby. She was trying to get Stephanie to drink some water, but the girl looked too dazed to register what she was being offered. He and Kelsey quickly reached the serving station and laid out the rest of the chips and bottled waters. “Hey, Kelsey? Would you mind being in charge of the handouts for a minute? There’s something I gotta do,”

Before Kelsey could do more than nod he went off toward the pantry again, a bag of chips in hand. Ruby didn’t look up when he stopped before her. “Hey. I was thinking it would be a good idea for you to eat too,” He nudged her with the bag of chips.

Ruby roughly snatched them, but made no move to open them.

Louis knelt down beside her. “Anything else I can get you? Another bottle of water?”

“Steph hasn’t even touched this one,” Ruby muttered.

Gently, Louis took her arm, tugging upwards. “You want to come with me to grab some chairs? I’m sure it’ll be more comfortable for the both of you,”

Ruby shook her head. “I’m not leaving her alone with Justin around,”

“Hey,” Louis gestured toward the corner where Marlon, Mitch and Rosie stood, halfway between the food and them. “Marlon and Mitch are watching. Rosie too. You know they won’t let anything happen,”

The argument was enough to get Ruby to her feet. She and Louis made their way over to where some of the cafeteria chairs had been pushed aside in the panic.

“If you want to try to sleep, I could take a turn with Steph,” Louis offered. “Or if you want it to be a girl, I bet Brody would be willing,”

“I’m not tired,” Ruby replied, unwilling to meet his eyes. They each grabbed a chair and began heading back. Louis searched his mind for something uplifting to say.

“With Erin it was fast, right?”

“What?”

“When she turned into... whatever those things are. Marlon, Mitch and I were only gone twenty minutes tops. It’s been way longer than that since Stephanie got bit. That’s probably a good thing,”

“She’s gotta be OK,” Ruby’s tone was dull, but her expression firm. “Lord, I told her to go sit by Erin since I thought the two would calm each other down and now..” the pain in her voice was clear. 

Louis placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping them both in their tracks. “Hey, you couldn’t have known. None of us know anything yet.” He awkwardly pulled Ruby into a side hug, causing her chair to drag along the ground.

Ruby sniffled, roughly wiping her nose. “What’s with you, Louis? This morning I could’ve sworn you didn’t know me from Adam and now here you are trying to make me feel better,”

Louis shrugged. “I gotta help somehow. Even if it’s small, stupid stuff like getting chairs,”

Ruby shook her head. “It’s not stupid. Thank you,”

“You’re welcome,”

They carried the chairs the rest of the way to where Stephanie was tied to a bar that extended out from one of the stoves. She made no move to get up when they offered her a seat. Instead they had to lift her themselves, both holding their breath as they quickly hoisted her up into place.

“You hang in there, OK, Steph?” Louis said, trying to sound confident.

There was no answer.

Louis turned to Ruby one last time. She’d opened the chip bag and was nibbling on one of them. “You too, Ruby,”

“Sleep well, Louis,”

With nothing left to do, Louis headed over to the back of the room where the blankets had been laid out. Curling up on top of one, he tried to calm down all the thoughts in his head, the memories of Dewey and Erin’s blank stares replaying in his mind. Perhaps if he could just sleep these horrors would go away for a time. He had to believe that. If he could just make it through tonight, maybe tomorrow would be better. Maybe help would come. His mind continued to race, but he could feel the exhaustion of his body pulling him under. At last he slept.

\---

Stephanie turned around 2 in the morning. She’d gone completely still and Marlon and Mitch had drawn closer, silently pulling Ruby away. She clung to Miss Martin, dry sobs catching in her throat. Miss Martin stared at the body in numb horror, not wanting to accept what was there before her: a child’s corpse. Then the corpse twitched, and the eyes opened. They were glassy, vacant. Justin and some of the other boys crowded round, holding knives, brooms, whatever they could find to defend themselves. Ready to kill.

But they wouldn’t give up just yet. Miss Martin ordered the boys to stand down. They didn’t know for sure that this couldn’t be cured. They needed somewhere safe to keep Stephanie until help arrived. Not somewhere essential like the pantry, but… a broom closet. That could work. An old potato bag was procured and placed over Stephanie’s head. Marlon and Mitch each took one of Stephanie’s arms, still bound behind her back. Rosie stood crouched a short distance away, growling deep in her throat. She too could sense that Stephanie was gone.

Slowly, carefully, they dragged the growling, struggling monster that stood where Stephanie once did, surrounded by armed children each step of the way. Finally, they reached the closet and Stephanie was pushed inside. The door closed with a definitive thud. The others returned to their posts. Marlon and Mitch took up their station in front of the door, Rosie lying down between them. Ms. Martin tried to quiet Ruby, ordering the boys that the door was to remain guarded until help arrived. They should find another shift to take their place soon, friends they trusted to stay level-headed.

Marlon felt an unspeakable weariness within himself. Not exhaustion - despair. Miss Martin was still holding out hope, but seeing Stephanie’s eyes like that, glazed, lifeless… you didn’t come back from something like that. They’d lost another kid. Would they lose another before help arrived? All they could do now was sit and wait for this night to end, even though they all knew that when daylight broke nothing would have truly changed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days after the night of the attack, Marlon assesses the damage and where they are now.

Three days had passed. Three days and they’d heard nothing from the outside world. The phone lines were down. All the cars had been taken by the teachers when they fled except for the one crashed outside that was a total wreck. They couldn’t even get outside of the school. The yard was crawling with monsters, lurking back and forth, staring aimlessly with their dead eyes. They were trapped here with no way to know if help would ever come.

There had been dead inside the school as well, but these were their own. Students who hadn’t made it to safety in time. After taking a tally from the night of the attack, they knew how many had been lost: 8 students. Almost a fifth of the students at Ericson, gone. Miss Martin had insisted that they sequester the students who’d been turned. It was too dangerous for them to herd them into one place, so they used hit and run tactics, shoving each one into the nearest bedroom or classroom and barring and marking the door so everyone knew not to enter.

All in all there were five of them: Stephanie in the kitchen closet, Dewey in the headmaster’s office, Nicolas in the first floor hallway, Rachel in her bedroom on the girls’ floor and Blake in the boys’ bathroom. There were some that hadn’t made it and were truly, completely dead: Erin from that night, and Lucas who they spotted outside on the ground. He seemed to have fallen from the roof, his head crushed in the process. There was one more as well whose manner of death was suspicious to say the least. Marlon and Louis had found Connor’s body after two days: turned and stabbed through the brain. Tyler had claimed he’d delivered the fatal blow the night of while trying to escape, but the blood seeping from the skull was still wet. Marlon wondered if they’d be able to protect the rest of the turned students from a similar fate until help arrived. If it did.

Aasim and Trey had scouted outside atop the wall. According to them, there were more of the dead wandering the woods outside the gates. There didn’t seem to be an end to them. If things had gotten this bad out in the boondocks, did that mean the dead had risen elsewhere? They couldn’t let themselves think like that though. There had to be somewhere safe, some force that could destroy these walking nightmares. For now, they focused on clearing the admin building and the dorms of all threats. The campus was immense. There was no way they could monitor it all. After systematically going room by room through both buildings, they blocked off all exits except the two delegated ones and placed volunteer guards on both doors.

It was a lot of work to get all that done. Everyone was always busy with something be it building up the barricades, scouring the rooms for food and supplies, taking care of the younger kids or brainstorming what else could be done to better their chances of surviving. Marlon appreciated everything Miss Martin was trying to do. By keeping them all busy, it prevented the terror within each of them from taking over. Panic offset by practicality. You couldn’t let yourself panic while there was still work to be done, and there was always more work to do.

Marlon was on his way to inform the current guards of the shift schedule they’d put together, Rosie by his side, when he heard the sound of the piano coming from the music room. Who could that be at a time like this? Marlon decided to investigate. He found Louis sitting atop the piano bench, his fingers casually flitting across the keys. Of course. Louis had gotten in trouble more than a few times for sneaking into the music room after curfew. It made sense that he’d claim it now as a sort of personal escape. The door creaked as Marlon opened it, causing Louis to stop playing and turn around in surprise. He shot Marlon a guilty smile.

“Caught red-handed. If you’re here to tell me I’m needed for dinner prep, I’ll be there in five,”

“Actually, I was on my way to do something else. Just stopped by to see who was making the music,”

“Figured now was as good a time as any to tickle the ivories. Mr. Baxter always was a grump about anyone but him touching the piano during music class,” Louis ran his hand along the polished wood thoughtfully. “But now that he’s probably dead… guess I can play all I want,”

“Dude, way to be morbid,” Marlon commented, taking a seat on one of the arms of the sofa. Rosie settled down at his feet, resting her head on the floor. The headmaster had trained her to never leap up on any of the furniture. Marlon was hesitant to ask the question that was on his mind, but seeing as privacy had been non-existent these last few days he’d better ask while he had Louis alone. “Do you think your dad knows about what’s happening here? Could he send someone to come get you… get all of us?”

Louis bit his lip. Marlon knew he was the only one Louis had confided in about his parents’ wealth. Being the rich kid in a school of troubled youth wouldn’t get you very far when your family had cut you off. But now that he was in danger, his parents were sure to come for him. They definitely had more resources than any of the other kids’ families did to set things right. Perhaps it was a crazy thought, but it still gave Marlon hope.

A wide smile crossed Louis’ face. “Knowing my dad, he’ll probably call his private helicopter to come pick me up as soon as he knows what’s happening. Hell, maybe he’ll even spring for the jet. And if he doesn’t know about all this yet, he will soon. A week from now, we’ll all be at some island resort recuperating while Ericson gets blowtorched to the ground,”

Marlon knew he was lying. Louis was a terrible liar. But it was a nice lie to hear. And who knew, maybe Louis’ dad would come through for them and bring a rescue party after all, though probably not in as flashy a fashion as Louis envisioned. Marlon hopped off his seat with a sigh. “Well, I’m gonna go pass on that message like I was supposed to. You should report for duty too,”

“Aye aye, captain,” Louis gave a mock salute before returning to his piano playing. He really was incorrigible.

\---

It didn’t take long to relay the shift schedules to the guards. Marlon started to head back toward the kitchen, ready to grab a bite to eat before meeting with Ms. Martin to discuss further plans for the day. He should probably feed Rosie soon too. They’d been able to grab the bag of dog food from inside the headmaster’s office before pushing Dewey’s corpse behind the doors. The bag was only half full though. Marlon hoped he could make it last. He didn’t want to get into another fight with Justin if he had to start dipping into their rations to feed Rosie.

He took a short detour first to use the girls’ bathroom though, the only one they had considering there was a deadhead in the boys’. As he walked down the hallway, he spotted Mitch gleefully pulling posters off the walls.

“Whatcha up to, Mitch?” he called as he approached.

Mitch turned around, crumpling the poster in his hands into a tight wad before dropping it to the floor and smushing it under his foot. “Tearing down these fucking motivational posters like I always wanted to,”

Marlon looked up at the tattered remains of one of the posters. It used to say “Be the change you want to see in the world” with a bright blue globe underneath it. Now only the “Be” and “see” remained, the tattered edges of the wrecked globe fluttering in the breeze from the open windows. Kelsey and Tanya had opened all the windows on the second floor to try to clear out some of the smell of blood and guts from the school. It reeked outside too, but at least the air was fresh. Looking down the hallway, Marlon could see several other crumpled balls tossed along the floor. Rosie sniffed one curiously. “Seems like you’re just about done here,”

“Yep. Once I got going, I just couldn’t stop,” Mitch nodded toward what remained of the poster. “Want to finish the job?”

“Sure,” Marlon reached up and tore the remaining pieces from the wall, bunching them up together before tossing them out the window. He and Mitch watched the papers flutter to the ground with a sense of retributive glee.

“Wanna help me with the ones on the first floor?” Mitch offered.

“Sounds fun, but I gotta talk with Miss Martin. She’s hoping we can figure out a way to get the phone lines working if we can find the source of the damage,”

Mitch snorted. “That’s a lost cause. It’s not _our_ lines that are damaged. It’s all the phones, everywhere,” He looked out the window beyond the gates. “Everybody knows this goes way past Ericson. They’re just all too scared to admit is,”

Marlon crossed his arms, following Mitch’s gaze. “Alex has family about 20 miles from here. He wants to try to sneak out to the road and hitch a ride to find them.

“That’ll just get him killed. You tell him that?”

“Yeah. He took a swing at me. Don’t know if I can stop him,”

“If he wants to go bad enough, no one can,”

“Yeah,” Marlon shook himself out of his thoughts. “You’ve got a shift for the admin building’s front doors at 4. You’ll be there?”

“Yeah. Is Jose taking the back doors?”

“No, I am,”

Mitch made a noise of disgust. “You should ask him to take your place. Get some sleep before you pass out standing up,”

“I can make it till tonight,”

“There’ll be more to do tonight. Louis said you were on night shift again last night. You need to sleep sometime,”

“I’ll sleep… when there’s time,” Marlon clapped a hand on Mitch’s shoulder. “I gotta go. Have fun with your posters,”

“Oh, I will,” A rueful smile crossed Mitch’s lips. “Stay safe,”

“You too,” Marlon didn’t look back as he headed down the hall, Rosie trailing behind him. He knew Mitch was right. He needed to sleep. He’d tried, but he couldn’t. His body just wouldn’t let him. He’d snatched an hour here or there dozing off on the blankets in the kitchen, but true deep sleep had evaded him. It had to come eventually though. Maybe if he was truly exhausted enough it would. He wasn’t there yet though. And so he continued on.


End file.
